G'day, guys.
I guess you're wondering while I'm here in the Hunter Valley, smack bang on the central
coast of New South Wales.
This is the place where they make canvas.
And they make canvas for Supafit Seat Covers, because they use Australian-made canvas.
And would you believe it's made from Australian cotton grown in Australia by Australian farmers.
And then they make it here into canvas.
Peter, what are we gonna go and have a look at, mate?
I know there's canvas here somewhere.
We're gonna see the start of our seat covers.
So it's grown from the dirt.
Australian cotton.
And then it ends up with dirt on it from Simon.
Pretty much, pretty much. All you blokes.
All right, mate, let's go and check her out.
No worries.
James, he's the guy that's going to show us through this factory.
So Wax Converters Textiles started by my parents in 1991, so we're in our 29th year of business.
And we're a textile mill.
We're a vertical mill.
We started out with two people back in ‘91 making wax cotton for Drizabone, R.M. William-style jackets.
It's very focused on Australian conditions and solutions for fabric requirements for
outdoor textiles.
We wanted to do the highest-quality, and it wasn't just nice and strong,
it was the fact that these guys--chemical-wise, there's no bad chemical transfers from the material
which can occur.
And we knew that and we wanted material specifically for us, and that was heavy for the mining
industry, strong for the mining industry, and also then the product be comfortable for
retail 4-wheel drivers as well.
So I believe Supafit Seat Covers and ourselves are working successfully, because we offer
the customer great value for the highest possible quality.
So in terms of durability, comfort, wear--our fabrics, both the canvas and the denim, offers
the top-of-the-line performance features.
So I've had a little bit to do with canvas over the years.
When I owned a business, I owned a business years and years and years ago,
and I used to make swags.
My first-ever swag was made out of the material made in this factory.
Now how good's that?
Now we're talking probably 25-30 years ago now.
And so I understood that canvas came in a roll.
It was a material made from cotton-polyester blend, but I had no idea exactly how they
made that product.
Our processes they're very varied, but we start with the cotton that comes off the farm,
into the spinning mill.
We take the yarn then, make a warp.
Then we've got the weaving process.
We come through the dye house, and we've got the preparation, the scouring, the rotation,
the washing, the drying, the dyeing, and then we bring it over for finishing and evalutaing.
That's where we put the protection into the fabric.
So the stain resistance, the waterproofing, the UV resistance.
And then obviously it's easy to put one colour.
But what about multiple colours?
Yeah so then that adds more processing, correct.
So if we do a camouflage print for military or fashion camo, then we've got to add the
printing process where we've got to make a screen for every colour.
Curing after that that as well.
Curing, yep, and then it's gotta be trimmed.
Trimmed.
Rolled.
Customers want nice rolled fabric.
Nice and neat.
Edge straightened, rolled tightly, and then we ship it over to WA or wherever the customers
are, all around the country.
Perfect.
The advantage of being Australian made is we know what we need product-wise.
We know the strength.
We know the reliability, proven.
We also have someone accountable in Australia for the product.
You can buy anything you want overseas, you try getting a return on it,
you don't get it back.
So whereas if we have a problem with our product, we can go to the manufacturer which is in
Australia.
And then when you come to the manufacturer and you see 50 people employed,
and you feel good that then you go back and you've got people working for you.
You don't make as much money as you would coming from overseas, but we employ people
that keep a business intact and keep people employed in Australia.
It's grown in Australia using Australian workers, farmers, and then from there, the process
of turning it from a piece of thread, cotton thread, into a material that can be cut up.
You're using Australian workers to sew the material together.
You're using truck drivers to transport it.
You're using people to operate the forklifts, all those people are Australian.
And so keeping that in Australia is very important.
There's no doubt about it.
It has that place.
And the Supafit brand only use Australian products to make Australian Supafit Seat Covers.
So what's this machine?
This is a accelerated weathering.
So when we're doing outdoor fabrics, we like to see how it performs.
And one month in the machine is like 12 months outside.
So like the sun.
Sun, absolutely.
Okay so it's a tanning machine.
I think Simon has one of these at home.
I wouldn't want to jump in there, Jase, but feel free to if you want.